Concerned with all these.."Lack of beach chairs at CSA comments"

To the powers that be... We are getting concerned with comments on various web sites an reviews about the lack of beach chairs available at CSA. Most of these comments are to the fact of if you don't save a chair before 8:00 am you wont get one. We have come across this issue on other holidays and have never returned to these resorts. This seems like a basic requirement of a resort that it has more than enough chairs for the guest rooms it has on the property.
We stayed at a high end resort in the Cancun area which had this issue and don't wish to repeat it. If we wanted a chair for the day I had to get up with the sun.. take towels down and place them on chairs. People were seen taking floating rafts to their rooms to ensure they had them the next day and and there were daily disputes between guests over chairs,
I hope this is not the case at CSA as we have not had a problem at any other Couples resorts. We have been 6 other times to CSS and CN.
Looking forward to April
Ron & Tracey

In three visits to CSA, we never had a problem finding a beach chair. I think the posts that say they had trouble are refering to the beach Cabanas. There are only a few of them, and they are always being "reserved" by having towels and other items put on them well before dawn. There are plenty of spots to sit in the shade or sun, and always enough loungers and floats to go around.

It makes me crazy to read post like this. We have never!!!!! had to look for a chair on the Beach, there is always plenty. You may need to move one from one spot to another,CSA is not a Cruise Ship. We will be there in April, one of the peak times of year, and there is " No Problem Mon " We will be returning for our 6th stay at CSA April 12th and we are so ready.

CTI has the same issue. We were there on January 16 and all of the beach chairs with cushions (except for two on opposite ends of the beach) around the main pool and on the beach were taken either with a person or a towel.

I would be surprised if there is a shortage of chairs at CSA or any Couples Resort. When we were at CN, we both commented that there had to be 2 chairs for every guest at the resort. We swore there were enough chairs for everyone just looking at what was around the pool. There were that many again, probably more, on the beach. I would think CSA would have a similar ratio of chairs to guests. So no worries.

There are times when certain situations become self-fulfilling prophecies, and this beach chair shortage at CSA seems to be a classic example. In theory, if no one got up at the crack of dawn and staked out the best beach chairs/locations, then it's quite likely that there would always be availability. Sure, some of the absolute best spots may be gone sooner than others, but for the most part there should still be sufficient quantity.

But with the panic that's setting in at the present, it's quite likely that those who are going in the coming weeks will be doing their own staking out, even if normally they don't, in order to compete with those who always do this.

It's the circle of (beach chair) life.

Ron

Reading is fundamental. It's just that for some, it's more mental than fun.

My oh my. I will be arriving soon, and I hope there is no problem with anything, especially my beach days. It is -29 where I come from right now, and all I want is to enjoy a warm sunny day on a comfy beach chair on a beautiful beach. Please please please be sure there are enough chairs so all who want one can have one, and the thought of -29 with a wind chill of -35 can just be figment (spelling?) of one's imagination for 7 days in the middle of winter.

Well yesterday at CSA we had a problem finding two loungers anywhere at all. Today we went out at 0630 and lots were taken already. There's a hammock near where we're sitting and it's had towels reserving it since we arrived at the beach at about 0830. There's not been a soul in sight on that hammock and it's now 15.30!

I have posted my concerns on this several times over the last few days. No more. Randy has addressed it and I trust him as a man of his word. Especially concerning the subject of Couples and CSA. If he says there are plenty of chairs and floats, then that is final and I am confident that this has simply been blown out of proportion through misunderstanding or the misguided judgement of one or two people.

Randy, thanks or taking the time to address this matter on the message board. And more than once as I have observed. I am done with it, all is well on my beach.

This is why I personally think that CN is superior to CSA...in that the baech has more "depth" to it, and at least twice the amount of shade...natural shade , even....no need to race to grab a "palapa" at CN

We have jsut returned from CSA and we did have a problem finding chairs that first day, after that we did what everyone else was doing and went down between 8:00 and 9:00 to get one. We left our towels and went for breakfast, then returned to our chairs. Our vacation was excellent and we are definately going back.

We have NEVER had an issue with getting chairs at CSA in the four times that we have been there. I cannot image this happening. There seem to be plenty of chairs on the beach. For the people who want to get up at ungodly hours to reserve a chair at a spot they want I say more power to you. If you are willing to get up that early then you deserve it!

chairs @ CSA

This was our 4th time staying at CSA and this year we were there from jan 7-17th. We had no trouble getting a chair on the beach, although getting a palpapa was another story. Two palapas that were close to our room were taken everyday by the same couples that kept there shirt/wrap hanging in the palapa-all night-and for the first 5 days of our stay.

I am an early riser and on the beach to enjoy my coffee around 6:30 am. There were always many chairs with towels already on them when I went out to find a chair. And many of those same chairs remained empty for most of the day.

My husband and I go to breakfast @ 8 and back on the beach before 9am. This is the first time that we came back to our chairs-NOT A PALAPA-to find our towels gone. And there were plenty of chairs all around!!! Chair saving was an issue the fist time we stayed @ CN in 2004 and every time we have stayed @ CSA. It seems to get a little worse every year. So childish.
We love Couples and won't let chair saving steer us away
from staying here in the future.

No problem when we visited !!

I agree with Randy on this one ... We were at CN for New Year and visited Couples Swept Away as part of the trading places programme. At NO time during the day did we have a problem finding a lounger with a cushion on the beach and after lunch we walked straight to two beds under a palapas !!! Infact, we were sooooo impressed with CSA we've just booked our first visit there for 7 nights on 12th February 2011 .... although still returning to CN the week before .

But if I did get there and there were towels/belongings lingering on sun loungers for any length of time with no bodies on them I would have no hesitation in simply leaving these belongings in the place they were but take the beds from underneath them !! #

I am guilty I will admit it, I get up at 6-7ish to reserve a palapa for my hubby and I. But we use it all day, and when we are not using it we willingly give it up for some other people to use. For us it is a necessity not just a want, my hubby has fair skin and red hair so without the palapa our vacation could be ruined due to sunburn.

Another CSA chair story

Hi -

We did a trading places day from CN to CSA on December 9th. The 12 or so of us left CN about 9 am, and arrived at CSA shortly after.

Four of us were able to find chairs right away, but the other group never did find chairs, and had to go to the pool instead. They, along with some watersports staff, combed the entire length of the beach.

We were surprised to see a great number of people saving BOTH a chair in the SUN and one in the SHADE. They would sit in the sun a while, then leave items on their sun chairs and come to their shade chairs. That way, they didn't have to schlep chairs around, and could save shade for themselves. Large groups were doing this, as well as couples. We saw it all day long, and commented how selfish that was.

I have no reason to make this up, and it's what I saw. Please don't discount these people's experiences out of hand, just because the inventory numbers say it's "impossible". It was what THEY experienced, and it obviously affected their stay.

Well yesterday at CSA we had a problem finding two loungers anywhere at all. Today we went out at 0630 and lots were taken already. There's a hammock near where we're sitting and it's had towels reserving it since we arrived at the beach at about 0830. There's not been a soul in sight on that hammock and it's now 15.30!

Wow, that's just sheer arrogance on that person's part. I would have removed the belongings and placed them near the hammock, then proceeded to lie down and enjoy it. Had this person returned and still wanted it, I would then graciously accede to the request, but also letting the person know that such self-imposed 'reservations' should be accompanied by respectful and responsible time limits.

Oh, and I wouldn't have waited 7 hours either. I doubt I'd wait much more than an hour tops. But that's just me.

Ron

Reading is fundamental. It's just that for some, it's more mental than fun.

This happens a lot in Europe, people get up extremely early to reserve a lounger then disappear for a few hours. Helen above has got the right idea (it must be a British thing?). We (my wife and I) have a two hour rule, if someone has not come and claimed their lounger after two hours and we can't find a free one to use we simply remove the towel, place it carefully on the floor (where the lounger was located) and move the lounger and use it ourselves. In Greece once this guy came over and claimed we had stolen his lounger? This was about 16.00 and he had left his towel on the lounger since about 9.00am? I asked for his proof of purchase of the lounger, he just walked off muttering something which I couldn't understand?

If we are gone from our loungers for more than an hour or so we simply take our towels with us, this allows for someone else to use it?

With the exception of the man who practically grabbed a chair out from underneath me, we had no problems getting chairs in December. When I get up for a drink, or to go to the room, I DON'T reserve "my" chair, I take my things with me, but any time I came back there was always another chair for me..just move it to where you want it

I have experienced this at most AI resorts I have been to. There will always be inconsiderate people who have no problem "reserving" a chair when they have no real plans to use it.

We have not had issues with finding chairs at CSA. We do not require shade and generally just find a chair and drag it to where we want to sit. I refuse to participate in the juvenile activity of chair saving - it's rude.